


Unimaginable

by setphasersto_potatosalad



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 13:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13319133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setphasersto_potatosalad/pseuds/setphasersto_potatosalad
Summary: What kind of person would do this to their own daughter?Jack cocked his gun. Everybody knew what happened when you mixed a stupid feline and a little bit too much curiosity.--What goes through Jack's mind after his daughter's death.





	Unimaginable

_ Angel? No! Angel! _

 

\--

 

When the doctors put her in his arms for the first time, Jack thought he would fall apart. “Hey,” he whispered. “Hey, angel. Nice to finally meet you.”

 

\--

 

Angel’s first birthday was one of the best days of his life. It was stupid and cheesy, but hey. Sue him. He liked what he liked. 

 

Jack held his bouncing baby girl in his arms and she grinned at him like he was the funniest idiot on the planet. Wasn’t like she was wrong _ ,  _ either _.  _ This kid had changed him in ways no one could have ever dreamed of. He’d stopped dropping f-bombs for her.  _ F-bombs. _ What kind of person  _ did _ that for a kid? Who cared that some dumb baby was going around saying all the nasty words the galaxy had to offer? 

 

But Angel wasn’t some dumb baby. 

 

Angel was everything this world needed. She was perfect, she was innocent, and  _ god  _ she was beautiful. The kid still looked like a wrinkly peanut like eighty percent of the time and she held more beauty than anything the universe had to offer. 

 

Jack kissed the top of her head.

 

“Kiddo, I don’t think you know what you’ve got going for you, do ya?” He swayed back and forth as he walked her down the hall to their kitchen. “Because  _ you _ have yourself the best frickin’ dad in the history of time, space, and everything in between. I will do anything and everything for you. Name it and it’ll be  _ yours _ . Really, you have hit the universal  _ jackpot _ -”

 

“Frig-in.”

 

Jack halted mid-sway. He was left leaning awkwardly and staring at his baby like she’d just revealed nuclear launch codes.

 

“Say what now.”

 

“Frig-in!”

 

For a second, he just stared at the kid. Then his face split into a smile. 

 

Pride filled his body up like a balloon. If he took in another breath, he was gonna pop. Tears burned in his eyes quicker than he would ever admit. Releasing the metaphorical pressure was how he justified it to himself.

 

Jack held his kid on his hip and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand as he chuckled. “Just for that, kiddo? I’m making you pancakes. Screw what your mom says.”

 

\--

 

He was still John then. Just a nobody Hyperion codemonkey with a penchant for talking too much about his daughter and spending too much time on the ECHOnet trying to learn about vaults. Who woulda guessed his life would change so much, eh?

 

_ What kind of person would do this to their own daughter? _

 

Jack cocked his gun. Everybody knew what happened when you mixed a stupid feline and a little bit too much curiosity. 

 

\--

 

Angel’s body was cold the last time he held her. Her face was blank. Jack could pretend she was sleeping. Yeah. That was why she was so limp. Kid needed a good sleep, after all. She was going through a rough patch. He held her body to his chest, her ear against his heart and rocked her. Angel always liked listening to his heartbeat. It could turn a fussy toddler to a little cherub in five seconds flat.

 

Jack kissed her forehead. 

 

“I’m sorry, baby girl. I'm so sorry.” 

 

Jack bowed his head. His breath hitched.

 

He’d had a lot of injuries in his life. Lots of broken bones, fractures, bruises, vault marks  _ shoved into his freaking face _ \- but none of it compared to this. All of that shit healed. The pain eased, the scars faded, the anguish subsided, but his Angel wasn’t gonna come back. That hole in his heart wasn’t going to get filled up by anything less than  _ his _ baby girl.

 

Black hair covered up closed eyes. Jack took in a shaky breath and brushed her hair out of her face.

 

“Daddy’s gonna fix this, Angel. I promise. ”

 

\--

 

Killing the guy helped. It helped in the same way putting a bandaid on a compound fracture would help, but he wasn't in a position to be picky. It wasn’t really the death that brought a little bit of warmth to his dead heart, but the scream. Good god, that  _scream_.

 

_ROLAND!_

 

That was just an ounce of the pain he felt. No, one _millionth_ of an ounce. If he could make them hurt like he did, maybe he’d be satisfied.  _Maybe_.

 

Really, it was lucky the vault hunters didn’t die on their way out, he told himself. This way he’d get to kill them _so_ much slower. He’d get to kill them like they did him: outside-in. The only question was where to start. Sisters? Mothers? Fathers? No, no. Too easy. Too simple.  _Predictable._ If any of them had actually had children, he’d start there. Make them watch their kids die slowly. But _no_. The dumbasses had done _one_ smart thing and decided not to breed.

 

Jack paced as he thought.

 

Maybe grandmas. Everybody hated it when he killed grandmas.

 

\--

 

_ Epilogue _

 

“Sir, what you’re proposing is not only unethical, it is  _ imposs-” _

 

A gunshot echoed against the lab’s walls. What was left of the former team lead's face splattered against the rest of the team. No one made a sound. 

 

“Alright! Anybody  _ else  _ wanna tell me what I can and cannot do? I don’t know if you knuckleheads know this, but I  _ own  _ your asses. I  _ am _ Hyperion,” Jack growled. He turned on the nearest egghead. “You figure. It.  _ Out _ . You’ll get all the finest equipment money can buy, all the resources, but you get it  _ done _ . Alright?”

 

The braniac did the right thing and nodded. 

 

Jack suddenly turned cheery. “Great! I want an update in, uh,” Jack looked down at his watch, “twenty-four hours. Actually, make it  _ every _ twenty-four hours. I want this done before Pandora goes to shit, so you’re gonna need to go a hell of a lot faster than your usual molasses and concrete pace. ‘Kay?”

 

He looked from person to person to make sure there was no disagreement in the ranks. There was not.

 

“Get somebody to clean this up.” He gestured vaguely at the mess he had made and stalked out of his lab without further ceremony.

  
The scientists scattered. Their orders were clear. As they settled in at their monitors and stepped around the gore, a small pod came into view. It was roughly six feet long and three feet wide. Uncountable wires and tubes led into it. All Jack had left was inside. When he was done, she would wake up to a better world. He knew it.

**Author's Note:**

> this was my first fic! hope y'all liked it :) critique is welcome. feel free to hmu!
> 
> (also this was unbetaed)
> 
> (also also the title is from It's Quiet Uptown because i couldn't think of a title]


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